When Jesus uttered the above words he was letting his hearers know, even when the literacy rate was probably much less than it is today, people were personally responsible to know essentials. In the first century (A.D.) the Jews probably learned most of religion and the Holy Scriptures orally taught at synagogue and the Temple. Perhaps questioning them as to what they “read” could well have meant, “Have you not heard?” Regular exposure to hearing the Scriptures read is an age-old method of teaching. Modern tape sets of the Bible can be valuable to our biblical education:

“Listen to the entire Bible on tape. Listen to an entire book at one sitting. Pay attention, but do not worry about understanding difficult parts, backing up the tape, and so forth: just let the tape play. If you do this every day you will have heard the entire Bible after just two months. When you are finished, do it again, and again. Three times in all. After six months you should be pretty well familiar with the contents of the whole Bible.” Credit: Ten Steps to Biblical Literacy by Michael D. Marlowe

So, even then, to “know” something could be accomplished by reading or hearing something taught. The above teaching method (tape sets) further establishes it is possible to know that which we have only heard and thus does not give us an excuse for not knowing how God “works”. The Jews were not without an excuse even if they could not have read.

In our modern world, whenever there is some catastrophe the question is asked, “Why does God let such things happen?” That question was probably asked thousands of times when the World Trade Center was leveled to the ground as the result of terrorists flying two jet airliners into both towers. When a mother of six children dies in an accident or a disease the same question is asked. When a tornado strikes and hundreds of homes are laid waste like so much kindling the question is thrown on the table again, “Where was God?” With the war going on during the Bush Administration, Bush and God both are not let off the hook because people like to personalize the President and God as well and think they have really presented a question of the age with the words, “Why did Bush get us in this war? Or, “Where was God when…?”

I have already written an essay answering that question (“God Does Not Do 9-11’s” [see link at end of this essay]) so I will not address this question again. What I do want to say is, “Have you not read?” Read what? God has received enough bad press in the thoughts mentioned above but what I do feel very strongly about is to challenge people to read all the good things God provides. The Old Testament Law has every kind of circumstance imaginable covered in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We are not exempt from knowing (reading or hearing) these laws.

Where did benevolence come from? From where does concern for the alien and poor come? From where does the seed of generosity come? From where does the idea of treating animals properly come? From where does the concept of infection or disease come? Where did man learn the virtue of truth and forgiveness? All these virtues, and more can be found directly from reading Bible. It is not like God had no concern for the sick, diseased, distressed, disenfranchised, terrorized and homeless; rather God made provisions by implanting in His people the concepts of providing for all such people. The books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy provide detailed instances and reactions for the Jews (and later Christians in the centuries following the establishment of Christianity) that would very appropriately deal with such calamities.

The excess crops raised by the Jew were to be set-aside for the poor. Leviticus 19:9, 10: “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time…. Leave them for the poor and the alien.”

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 – “When you are harvesting…and overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olive from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for alien, the fatherless and the widow.

What was the lesson for the Jews? God not only commanded them to follow these precepts (and principles) but reminded them: “Remember that your were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”

When does a treat become a hog’s share? “If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.” There’s a difference – and this detail provides the principle for the Jew’s life in having a treat while going through another man’s field.

So you see, God is indeed “doing something” at times of a disaster because His people all over the world are doing what they were taught to do. Delegation of authority or work (responsibilities) is a specialty with God. Even though we know the three “omni” words: omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient -- that God who is “everywhere, and all powerful and knows all things” has not left the needs of the world without resources – that is what His children are to do, “take care of those in need” using the same principles that have been around such the giving of the Ten Commandments. It is essential to remember that God did not stop with just TEN commandments because the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy reveal every need and every circumstance covered by the concern and considerations imbedded into the minds of the Jews (and later Christians adopting the same precepts and principles in regard to others).

LINK to previous essay mentioned above:
http://www.thewordwright.org/2006/10/god_doesnt_do_911s.php

THE WORDWRIGHT